Woods Gears Up for U.S. Open

Normally, a tie for third (plus a check for $286,000) doesn’t sound like too bad a week, but not if you’re Tiger Woods and not if that’s what happened at the Memorial.

After playing 36 practice holes Monday at Pinehurst, Woods is taking the rest of this week off and getting ready for next week’s U.S. Open. The Masters champion said he’s pleased with his game and sounded as if he’s already trying to put on his U.S. Open game face to try to take home the second part of the Grand Slam.

“You stay in the moment, stay in the present, because there’s so many different circumstances that could happen out there,” he said.

Woods missed a 40-foot putt for birdie at the 18th on Sunday that would have moved him into third by himself. If that had happened, he would have replaced Vijay Singh at No. 1 in the rankings, but Woods remains No. 2 (by .12 of a point) even though Singh missed the cut.

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The USGA lists 17 categories of exemptions into this year’s U.S. Open. Woods is exempt in eight categories, the most; Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are exempt in seven.

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259: The number of consecutive holes Stewart Cink has played without a three-putt, the longest current streak on the PGA Tour.

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After winning five of the seven tournaments she has played this year, Annika Sorenstam can get on with her real goal -- trying to win the Grand Slam. Sorenstam, who won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in March, this week will try to make it two majors in a row at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

The event is being played at a new venue, Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md.

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On the line: Sorenstam can become the first player to win a major three consecutive times. Also, she could become the first player since Pat Bradley in 1986 to win the first two majors of the year. Bradley wound up with three in all but was fifth at the U.S. Open.

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Sorenstam’s scoring average of 68.5 is lower than her LPGA-record 68.69 of a year ago and she’s won with three sets of Callaway irons: the X-14, the X-Tour forged and the X-18. The prototype Fusion driver Sorenstam uses, with a 460cc head, will be available to the public and go on sale after Pinehurst.

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Michelle Wie is playing the LPGA Championship on a sponsor’s invitation, and she’s the only amateur. On Tuesday, she will attempt to qualify for the men’s U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Cedarbrook Golf Course in Pittsburgh. The 15-year-old plays 21-year-old Mike Larkin, who just graduated from Towson University.

The winner of the Public Links, which will be played July 11-16 at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio, receives an invitation to the 2006 Masters, as long as that person is an amateur.

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Karrie Webb will finally meet the last requirement of the Hall of Fame this week -- 10 years on the LPGA Tour. Webb, who made enough points in 2000 to qualify on every count except longevity, has won 30 times, but only twice since 2002.

Webb is not among the top 10 in any of the LPGA’s statistical categories, and after winning the money title three times, she’s 21st now with $204,085.

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Bart Bryant, the 42-year-old six-time visitor to PGA Tour qualifying school who won the Memorial last weekend, is sometimes mistaken for his older brother, Brad, often referred to as “Dr. Dirt” for his unkempt appearance.

At the Memorial, that didn’t matter to Bart, who didn’t care if fans yelled “Go, Dirt!” to him. Whenever he heard that, Bryant had a response ready: “Go where?”

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Miguel Angel Jimenez sent notice that he ought to be considered a factor at Pinehurst by winning the Wales Open over the weekend. He credited his improved physical conditioning, but John Hopkins of the Times of London seemed skeptical.

Wrote Hopkins: “The ... image of Jimenez is of him with a grin on his face, a cigar in his hand and glass of Rioja nearby.... He continues to smoke cigars that resemble nuclear submarines and to drink espresso coffee so thick you can stand a spoon up in it ... “

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A spectator at the Memorial to Craig Parry, after Parry played his Sunday round by himself and finished in 2 hours 18 minutes: “You got a date?”

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Remember Danielle Amiee, the Golf Channel’s reality show winner whose victory let her tee it up at the Michelob Ultra last month?

Amiee, from Newport Beach, and who caused a stir with her provocative appearance, stirred it up again a couple of weeks ago at the Corning Classic when she didn’t appear at all, even though she had a sponsor’s exemption. She reportedly had a back injury, but her status at the tournament was listed as “DNS” (did not show) instead of WDI (injury withdrawal). What happened? Maybe it’s in the next show.

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A record 2,499 have committed to enter qualifying for the British Open, July 14-17, to be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews. The final field for the championship will number 156.

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Ann Meyers, Paul Westphal, Marlin McKeever, Bob Seagren and Dwight Stones are among the celebrities scheduled to play in the Pat Boone celebrity tournament June 27 at Coto de Caza Golf and Racket Club. The event benefits the Ryan Corbin Foundation for Brain Injury. Details: (760) 632-7770.